Images stolen from Dengeki's review.
The cast:
- Kawauchi Misato was a perfect Chisato, as we knew she would be, since her role as Nazuna in Assault Lily: Odaiba Girls' School is pretty similar to Chisato already. We were watching the play for her in the first place, and she didn't disappoint.
- Motonishi Sakiho's Takina didn't get as many chances to shine due to the nature of the role, but she was also very good.
- Tanoue Marina's Fuki was very reminiscent of her fantastic portrayal of Toda Eulalia Kotohi. She was still a secondary character, but she nailed Fuki and made all of her scenes memorable.
- Kitamura Keigo's Mika could have been straight out of the anime. He was the best of the male roles. Takeuchi Rintaro's Robota was also pretty entertaining for a guy whose face you couldn't see.
- Ishii Mikako's Mizuki was great during her comedy scenes.
- Oobuchi Nonoka (Kurumi) is so short I thought she was a teenager, but she's in her twenties. She's also really good at sounding like a kid.
- Nakata Hiroki's Majima fell flat for me. His vibes were more "wacky clown with a gun" than the original "entertainingly unhinged, but also scary."
The script:
Spoilers for the LycoReco anime
- The play adapted episodes 1-4 almost unchanged from the anime, which took up over half of its runtime.
- Following that, the play adapted the first part of episode 6 (where Takina moves in with Chisato,) then all of episode 7...
- ...and then part of Majima's attack on Chisato in episode 6, which it used as a lead-in to the climax. Said climax was a battle against Majima loosely based on the episode 11-12 fight, and which included Takina ditching a mission with Fuki to go to Chisato's rescue.
- Takina did find out that Chisato had an artificial heart, but nobody ever sabotaged it and the entire plot revolving around her heart was missing (aside from Yoshimatsu making comments about her wasted potential.)
- The Enkuboku plot was also left out, aside from a few scenes with Takina being recalled to DA and then abandoning the mission she was sent on with Fuki.
- Chisato and Takina had great chemistry and felt very much like they did in the anime. While the plot changes meant that their relationship didn't progress as far, I was satisfied by how the play treated them.
- Mika and Yoshimatsu didn't fare as well, I think because the bulk of their development happened during flashback and very late plot scenes that were skipped. However, Chisato did make her comment at the bar about wanting to let them rekindle their love in peace, so it wasn't queer erasure or anything. The play also had the poignant scene where Mika tried to threaten Yoshimatsu to leave Chisato alone, but couldn't follow through.
- There was a sequel hook of sorts at the end after the cast's curtain call, where they retreated behind a large
elevatordoor that was at the rear of the stage, but someone tossed Chisato's bag on the stage and she ran forward to grab it, with the door closing behind her. It feels like there's a good chance we'll get a second play covering all the portions of the anime this one didn't adapt. - That said, I feel like the play could have fit in the entire plot if it had been more willing to skip scenes that weren't critical to the story—it adapted everything from certain episodes, right down to the paintball match at the DA and Chisato forcing Takina to shop for clothes. I'm a bit baffled by the decision.
The production:
- Overall it was very good, with clever props during scenes like the episode 2 car chase (Kurumi actually stood up out of her suitcase after that, though I'm certain it had a false bottom attached to the car) and impressive use of video backdrops.
- The stagehands dressed in all black got a chuckle out of me. What is this, kabuki?
- After watching every Assault Lily play, it was a bit disappointing not to have the cast do their own vocals at the beginning and end; they just played the anime songs, including the recorded vocals.
Not the best stage play I've ever seen, but far from the worst either. It was a nice way to spend an evening. I'm looking forward to the sequel, if there is one!